7. Making Environments More Accessible for the Blind:

What Has Been Learned?

7.1. Introduction

Much research on environmental perception and cognition gathers empirical data from subjects and compares it to a "true" or "real" environment to test for any differences.   Deviations from the norm are considered subjective cognitive views, based on the subject’s information processing.   A statement like "Campbell Hall is the big round building with the curved concrete roof” is considered a "true" statement.   However, this information might not help a visitor who does not have sight.  The physical world is understood through perceptual filtering, and the lack of vision might hinder the acquisition of necessary spatial knowledge.

It appears that people with a sensory disability inhabit some kind of transformed space, one conceived of and used differently than the conceived and used world of “objective” reality experienced by those with the full array of perceptual senses.   Barriers and obstacles are multiplied in both number and scale for blind and visually impaired travelers.   Many cues are not available, and space itself can become highly confusing and “wildly distorted…by incomplete knowledge” (Golledge, 1993, p. 64) .  These “deviations’ from the objective world are what makes the study of spatial awareness and navigation by those with vision impairments a distinct area of geographic analysis.

Freedom of movement, accessibility, and, in fact, a major component of people's "quality of life" depends on the ability to make spatial decisions.   These decisions are made at different scales and in environments of different complexity.   People without full vision can find it very difficult to access information about the world in which they must travel.

In this chapter, the new types of cues that blind people gain when using RIAS are identified.  Then some of the previous research findings on blind navigation and spatial knowledge acquisition are highlighted, and what has been learned from this experiment that adds to our understanding of the role of vision in daily navigation tasks is discussed.  The experimental design and procedures are discussed and a summary of the results and hypotheses is given.  Next, any confounds of this design are examined and, finally, future research that might add to our understanding is examined.